The little one
by Dominisk
Summary: shikamaru looked down at his let to inspect what had just happend to him. he slowly looked up at his best friend Choji while saying "what do i do now?" choji slowly shook his head with uncertainty.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Shikamaru looked down at his leg to inspect what had just happened to him. He slowly looked up and at his best friend Choji while saying "what do I do now?"

Choji slowly shook his head in with uncertainty as he replied to his lazy friend "I don't know, we may have to amputate the leg. You could end up not being able to be a ninja ever again."

Shikamaru looked back to his left leg and replied "if Asuma was hear he would know what to do. I cant believe this is happening to me."

Choji kneeled on the ground next to his friend and said "don't worry Ino will be hear soon and maybe she can fix this."

"Fix this?! You can't Fix this! Dam it look at my leg Choji, I can't even move it."

Another voice yelled out saying "for crying out loud aren't you two being a little over dramatic about this. Its not that big of a deal."

"easy for you to say Ino your not the one who has the problem."

Choji started laughing then said "well its not like your life is in danger really."

"not in danger? You where the one who said I might have to amputate the dang thing."

Ino and Choji both broke out into laughter. "I don't see why you two are finding this funny get the dam thing off of me already."

Much to his disappointment, Shikamaru looked down to his leg again to see big brown eyes staring back up at him. "come on now you have been hanging on for the past 5 minutes. Just let go already."

"oh look at that Choji I think she likes Shikamaru."

Ino and Choji both broke out laughing again at there helpless leader.

"come on Ino I think he's suffered enough cant you get the little girl off of him?"

"fine I'll try."

Bending down to look the girl in the eyes Ino said with the sweetest of tones "can you please let go of my friend?"

The little girl just looked at Ino and began to shake her head.

Taking in a deep breath Ino said "listen let go of him now or ill be forced to make you let go of him." the little girl just shook her head even harder.

Starting to get mad Ino took out a kunai and was about to stab the little girl.

Quickly taking action Shikamaru moved his leg and the girl out of the way so she would not be harmed. "Ino what the hell do you think your doing?"

"you said you wanted her off and if she wont listen to me then the only other options are to either amputate your leg or kill her."

"listen I just spent the last thirty minutes saving her life and now you want to just kill her?"

" you wanted her off this very second. It was the only two options that came to my mind."

Shikamaru looked down at the little girl and quietly asked "ok little one would you please let go of me?"

Reluctantly the little girl let go of Shikamaru and just stared up at the jounin.

Shikamaru smiled at the little girl and said "that's better. At least the blood can flow again. Ok so now where are you mommy and daddy?" the little girl shook her head to Shikamaru. Thinking that maybe she didn't under stand Shikamaru rephrased his question to the little girl and asked "do you know where you live?" there was no response from the little girl.

Thinking everything was strange Shikamaru then asked " do you have a name?"

The little girl just shook her head once again

Choji then said out loud for everyone "maybe she is an orphan."

"ok well lets go into the next town and see if we can find someone to take her in."

The other two Shinobi just nodded there head in agreement with there leader.

The three ninja started walking away when Shikamaru stopped and turned to see the little girl not moving. He then said "well come one we are going to find someone to take care of you." the only response the little girl gave was an out stretched hand to the shadow ninja.

"oh would you look at that she wants you to hold her hand Shikamaru." laughed Ino and Choji.

Shaking his head Shikamaru walked over to the little girl and said "do you want me to hold your hand?"

With a big smile on her face the little girl nodded her head while keeping her hand up in the air for him to grasp it. However reluctant Shikamaru was he decided that doing so would get them to the next town faster so against his will he grabbed the little girls hand while saying "even when there young, women are troublesome."

Ino gave a gasp of shock seeing the shadow ninja take the little girls hand and leading her along quietly. She then whispered to Choji "I never thought he would actually hold her hand."

The big ninja just simply nodded.

With the little girl in hand Shikamaru just walked right past the two whispering ninja ignoring everything they just said. Finally noticing that they weren't moving Shikamaru called out saying "well I guess ill just leave you two here while I go to the village and then home."

Choji called back to his friend "come on now Shikamaru don't be like that were coming."

Ino and Choji walked silently behind Shikamaru and the little girl.

The four of them walked in silence for an hour before Choji spoke saying "you know what she actually reminds me of some one."

Hearing his friend talk Shikamaru decided to respond and ask the question he knew his friend wanted him to "oh and who does she remind you of?"

"well seeing her red hair and brown eyes she kind of reminded me of that sound chick who helped take Sasuke three years ago."

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks at the mention of the sound demon who had almost claimed his life. "Choji she is nothing like that demon. She may look a lot like her but she cant be her. For one she is quite and not screaming. For two the sound girl was left for dead in the forest."

"Shikamaru you know as well as I do that out of the sound five she was the only one who's body was never found."

Shikamaru stopped and looked at Choji with an expressionless face while saying "well that's what happens when you get a whole forest dropped on top of you."

"ya but shika…" though he try to get his point across Shikamaru cut off his oldest friend saying "not another word about that Choji ok?"

Choji just nodded. Ino stared in bewilderment at how Shikamaru had just treated Choji.

In all her time around the two she had never seen Shikamaru be so cold to his best friend and for reasons unknown to her, it scared her to see him like that.

For another hour the team walked in uncomfortable silence. When finally the town came into view. As they got closer to the town the little girl tighten her grip on Shikamaru's hand.

Shikamaru stopped, noticing something was wrong. He then said "you guys stay hear and ill go into town with the girl. Before Choji or Ino could object Shikamaru added "that's an order."

Shikamaru and the girl began walking to the town.

When they walked through the gate Shikamaru noticed how quite the whole town was and as he walked down the streets he noticed that the few people they saw all seemed to run and hide in the houses.

Not knowing quite what to do Shikamaru walked into the next saloon he saw. As Shikamaru and the little girl entered the saloon everything inside became deathly quite. Taking a quick look around Shikamaru noted that everyone in the saloon had turned to notice him and the little girl with evil eyes. Ignoring his gut feeling Shikamaru asked "is there anyone in hear that would know where I can find someone to take in this little girl?" he waited a moment for a moment for someone to answer him but, it remained deathly silent.

Finally one of the saloon girls answered him saying "ya you can take that little monster back to where you found her. Then leave her there." at those words the little girl clenched onto Shikamaru's leg once again.

Looking down Shikamaru could see absolute fear in the little girls face as she looked at the people in front of her. Then it happened a man started yelling saying "we should have killed that monster! Lets not let her get away again." a few more men gave grumbled agreements.

Shikamaru realizing that things had gone south for him and the small child put his hands to gather making shadow clones of himself. Then using the clones to his advantage he grabbed the little girl and ran out of the saloon. Quickly making his way out of the town before anyone decided to try and take the same actions.

Waiting for the past ten minutes Ino was starting to get impatient as she yelled "what the hell is taking that lazy no for good bum so long?"

"oh look there he is Ino….. Wait why does he still have the little girl with him?"

Ino jumped to her feet to see Shikamaru holding the little girl and running out of the town. She then spoke saying "more importantly then that why is the lazy bum running?"

The two then noticed a mob of people following not to far behind Shikamaru. Choji's eyes got as big as an owls when he saw the mob chasing his friend he then yelled "Shikamaru hurry we will cover you, just keep running."

Hearing Choji Shikamaru yelled back "don't bother just run for you life into the trees." then using all his strength Shikamaru put on an extra burst of speed as he ran straight at a tree in the near by forest. Then focusing the chakra to the bottom of his feet he swiftly climbed the tree. Once on the top branches he began jumping from branch to branch hoping to god that non of the villagers where a ninja.

Quickly his two companions joined him. The little girl silently sobbing into Shikamaru's chest.

"so care to tell us why you got chased out of the town Shikamaru?" asked a very angry Ino.

" all I know is I walk into a saloon and ask if anyone knows anyone who would take in the little girl. Then all the sudden they start yelling about a demon and chase us out of the town."

Stopping on a dime to look at Shikamaru Ino put her hands on her hips and yelled "Shikamaru Nara why in the name of kami did you take the little girl into a saloon?"

Shikamaru and Choji both stopped on the same branch and just as Shikamaru was about to answer Choji spoke saying "ya man. Why take a little girl into a saloon?" Shikamaru answered them in a very sarcastic tone saying "well she told me she wanted to get something to drink and I figured that sake would do us both some good."

" your kidding me right?"

"Ino of course I'm kidding you. Do you really think I would get sake for a 5 year old girl?"

But before she could answer him Shikamaru continued saying "there was no on in the streets and most of the shops where closed to I went to the nearest place that looked like it had people in it. Unfortunately it was a saloon and I entered with the girl before I realized it was a saloon." he partly lied to his friends. For Shikamaru knew full well what kind of place it was before he even decided to check it out.

"ok so what do we do with her now?" asked the easy going Choji.

"well we accomplished our task so we might as well bring her back to Konoha with us. Once there we can find a family to take her in."

Ino gave him a look of surprise then said "wow I never figured you to be such a softy."

Ignoring Ino's comment Shikamaru said "first lets get a little further then we will make came for the night."

The ninja traveled through the trees for the next hour in silence. Once they stopped Shikamaru said "I think this would be a good place to rest." he then jumped from the tree tops and landed softly on the ground. He then put the little girl down and took off his pack to get out a small sleeping bag and some pots to use for dinner.

Quickly following suit Choji and Ino did the same. Then Choji pulled some wood out for a small fire. The camp site was set up and ready in less then 15 minutes.

There dinner witch was a make shift kind of soup only took Choji a few minutes to warm up. He handed a bowl of the soup with a piece of dried bred to Shikamaru with a smile. Taking his portion Shikamaru sat with his back to one of the big trees.

After handing Shikamaru his portion Choji tried to give a bowl of soup to the little girl but to his surprise she would not accept it. Choji then yelled "Shikamaru she wont eat what I cook for her."

Shikamaru looked up in surprise to hear Choji talking to him and he noticed the little girl looking at him with longing and lost eyes. Shaking his head Shikamaru called out saying "come over here runt." as he did she gave a small smile and ran over to Shikamaru. He then moved his bowl and bred to the side and was about to speak to the little girl however he was abruptly stopped in his tracks as she climbed into his lap and stared up at him. Shikamaru was shocked to say the lest he then asked "you hungry?" she nodded

"I think she wants you to fee her Shikamaru." yelled Ino from he position by the fire.

"how troublesome. Fine" Shikamaru reached over and got his bowl of soup and bred back he then set the bowl of soup in the little girls lap. Taking a piece of his bred he dipped it in then handed it to the little girl. She quietly ate with a smile across her small face. He then dipped the bred again and took a bite for himself. Shikamaru continued to do this until the food was all gone.

Shikamaru then looked at his two teammates who both had the "all so cute look in there eyes."

"ok what's with you two?"

Ino was the first to speak as she said "she just looks so peaceful there in your lap. If I didn't know you better I would be almost jealous."

"Shikamaru, she does look really cute asleep like that in your lap."

Shikamaru just shook his head. But that only lasted for a few seconds before he said "well because I don't want to wake her up you both have dishes to do. So get over hear and clean mine too." Ino was about to explode at this but Choji stopped her and said "very well we will have dish duty because you are taking care of the little girl."

Shikamaru just nodded as he laid his head back against the tree ignoring the little girl sleeping on him. "hmmm maybe we….." Shikamaru quickly found slumber take over him..

Later that night Shikamaru was waken up by someone shaking him. Slowly opening his eyes Shikamaru glared at the one who would wake him in the middle of the night.

It took a few moments but it finally registered to Shikamaru that the one he was staring at was a young little girl not more then 5 years old.

Remembering all that had happened Shikamaru looks at her and says "whets the matter runt?"

She leans closely and whispers into Shikamaru's ear.

"what you need to use the bathroom? Well wake Ino up. She can help you she is a girl too."

The little girl just shakes her head as she starts giving him puppy eyes, in her eyes Shikamaru can see admiration, trust, love, and somehow she managed to pull off a little bit of a lazy look. One that actually reminded him of himself. "how the hell can she pull off my look. She's good." he thought to himself.

Finally giving in Shikamaru stands up and walks over to Ino while holding the little girl's hand. Bending over he slightly kicks Ino while she sleeps. After a minute of softly kicking Ino Shikamaru hears a grumble and a growl then a raspy voice says "you better have a good reason for getting me up before the sun is up."

Shikamaru gets closer to Ino's head and says "hay the runt needs to go to the bath room you should take her."

Ino turns in her sleeping bag to glare at Shikamaru then softly replies "you maid the deal that you would take care of her for tonight while me and Choji did the dishes. So you take care of it!"

Shikamaru's lazy eyes grew to the size of saucers. He was about to say more but Ino cut him off saying "you maid the deal you lazy ass." then with out a seconds hesitation she turned her back to Shikamaru and the little girl.

The little girl just watched Shikamaru as he started contemplating on what to do. Finally giving a heavy sigh Shikamaru said "come on runt."

He leaned against a tree as he listened to the gentle humming of the little girl who was hidden behind bushes. Thinking to himself "wow that's a beautiful song I wonder who taught it to her."

Finally letting the little girls hums take over him, he started to see the forest fade away as a beautiful sea came before him. Realizing something wasn't right Shikamaru quickly dispelled the genjutsu that was taking over his mind.

"it was weak but so vivid. Who's there?" listening more to the surroundings then to the girls hums he looks around intently, but nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Just as he begins to think its safe the genjutsu takes over him once more. This time it was much harder to dispel.

Once out of it Shikamaru calls out saying "who the hell is there and what do you want?" to his yelling the little girl stops humming.

Shikamaru looking around still cant find anything after a few moments of a futile attempt to find out who was trying to cast the weak genjutsu he calls to the little girl "Runt you done yet?"

To his voice the little girl smiles as she comes out of the bushes nodding her head.

Shikamaru then quickly picks the girl up and runs back into the camp where he starts yelling to wake up Choji and Ino. "get up you lazy bums. We need to get out of this place ASAP I think a ninja has found us."

Quicker then Shikamaru thought possible, Choji managed to get up and have all his stuff in his pack in less then a minute. It took Ino five then as fast as possible the group of ninja where once again running through the tree tops.

"what makes you think we where found Shikamaru?" as the much bigger ninja Choji.

"when the runt was using the rest room someone kept trying to cast a genjutsu on me. It wasn't very good and was easy to get out of but the fact that someone was trying to get me into a genjutsu is still reason enough to get out of there."

"why not find them and kill them?" asked the still sleepy Ino.

"because I tried to find them but there chakra was to well masked and I didn't see them in hiding at all. The worse part about it all is that they tried to cast the same genjutsu on me more then once."

"isn't that kind of dumb? Once cast the first time its harder to catch them a second time with the same thing because they can prepare for it." stated Choji.

"usually that's true but the second time they tried to cast it on me it was much harder to dispel it. that's why we needed to get out of there. I just don't know if they are still following us."

Shikamaru explained all this while running with the little girl tight in his arms. The little girl however was perfectly content and was even sleeping in the warm safety of Shikamaru's arms.

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There you have it a new story first chapter. Hopefully I will be able to update this one more. I got this idea while I was trying to think of what would happen next in my other frantic with Shikamaru. So I had to write it out cuz I really liked the idea but I don't know if it turned out the way I wanted it to. Hopefully more people will read this one and review it for me to let me know what you think. Please.

Anyway thanks for reading till next chapter.


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